As the global population ages and social structures change, our frail and disabled will need automated assistance to perform normal daily activities independently as support services become less available.
All current approaches to duplicating the skeletal muscle have taken the approach to replace a muscle mass with contrivances such as hydraulic/pneumatic ram-like devices, electric motor with gears/pulleys, pneumatic bladders. As a consequence, in order to achieve the necessary performance, these devices are bulky, require a sizeable power supply and are generally only capable of providing force between two anchor points along a straight line.
Furthermore current approaches typically require complex control systems to first sense and then control the amount of movement required to apply the required force to achieve the desired outcome.
Finally, current approaches are typically subject to environmental factors that will eventual impede and degrade their performance. They also require regular maintenance making them unsuitable for use in dangerous environments or for surgical implantation to replace a defective skeletal muscle.
It is an aspect of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate a problem of the prior art to provide personal assistive devices and systems that replicate skeletal muscles in both form and function. It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide a kinetic movement device configured to form a component for the construction or supplementation of organic or artificial movement systems. It is another aspect to provide a useful alternative to the prior art.
The discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in this specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters formed part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.